Reprieve of the Damned
by Sl4YeR
Summary: Continuing from turn 25, will Lelouch and C.C. be able to lead the life they always wished for? Lelouch x C.C.
1. Chapter 1

**Reprieve**** of the Damned**

**Chapter 1**

"The power of the kings, known as Geass, brings one solitude. Not quite accurate, is it? Right, Lelouch?"

The source of this voice was a green haired woman; she was lying on top of a carriage full with straw. Her green hair was long and it was combed into a long braid, her eyes are soft yellow orbs that are staring at the blue sky, seemingly mesmerized by it. Her clothing could be described as old fashioned and conservative; it was a white one piece dress that reached her knees, accompanied by a corset that hugged her figure tightly; the lower section of the dress additionally adorned with green and red cloth. Her dress was simple but beautiful, fitting their current location, Japan Farmland.

"Why should I know the answer to your questions, Witch?" The voice of the coachmen spoke up for the first time this day, he was silent all morning long, like he was afraid of breaking these peaceful moments.

"I thought the conqueror and martyr of the whole world would know the answer." Her voice held this typical uncaring tone of voice; a unique mix of superiority and indifference.

"Lelouch Vi Britannia died yesterday, he was a demon that deserved to die for his crimes."

"If Lelouch died yesterday, who am I talking to right know?"

"Isn't that obvious? I am Lelouch Lamperouge, a normal citizen of Britannia who's making a little vacation in Japan."

The coachman leaned back against the wood of the carriage. He titled his head upward to look at the bright blue sky. He had black hair that barely reached his shoulders. His eyes were a piercing lavender. The look on his face could only be described as satisfied; the burden of bringing piece to the whole world and all the sins he had committed were now lifted from his soldiers. He didn't have to commit more sins in order to make his previous ones not meaningless. He was a free man now, finally.

"Then what is this simple citizen going to do from now on?"

"I think leading a normal life wouldn't be all that bad, don't you agree, Witch?"

"I would love it, Demon."

No more words were spoken; they both had an mutual understanding between each other. It was comfortable silence these two were enjoying under their now truly blue sky.

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It was pitch black, the only source of light was coming from a house a few meters away. In this darkness there were two figures; lying in the soft grass that was all around them.

"Ironic isn't it? That we have new moon today of all days" The voice came from one of the individuals lying in the grass, it was a slightly masculine voice; not very rough but still the vice of a young man.

"I didn't knew you were so poetic, Lelouch." The second voice was a soft voice clearly coming from a female. It held an certain amount of mockery in it but it wasn't too offending.

"Didn't I tell you to stop calling me Lelouch? What do you think would happen if someone would hear you?"

"I don't think that Lelouch is such an uncommon name."

"It isn't so uncommon, but if they hear you and see my face then it would be impossible to say that it's just a coincidence that I look like Lelouch the Demon and that I coincidentally have the same name as him too. I still have my old fake pass from my time in Ashford, but I don't think that would convince anyone. I am the man of miracles after all."

"Even if they would find out about your true identity, you could just use your Geass and make them forget it."

"C.C., I swore to never use it again in my life, even if it would cost me my life. So please don't talk about it anymore. Lelouch the Demon died and with him died the Geass."

"At least I can be sure of your resolution, for now."

"Why did you help me back then, C.C.?"

"The question comes pretty unexpected, but shouldn't it be obvious? I sacrificed my Geass and my immortality for the both of us. You are the only one that I truly enjoyed living with in all of my life and I have lived pretty long. So I figured I would sacrifice my immortality to bring you back to life and live the rest of my life with you. Pretty funny isn't it? The Immortal Witch losing her power because of a simple citizen."

"Sacrificed your immortality? How exactly did you do something like that??" His voice sounded irritated. It was a fact that he really died back then at the parade, but shortly after he died he regained his consciousness. The first thing that he saw when he opened his eyes back then was C.C., she was carrying him out of town. He asked her what the hell happened. But she only responded with 'later', so the only thing that he could do was waiting for her to tell it him herself; and now that the time has finally come he wasn't all that sure if he would want to learn the whole extend of the truth.

"You know, Lelouch, back then when you were about to be killed, I did something that I rarely did before, I prayed, I prayed to the Gods to not let you die and that I would sacrifice everything so that you could live on. This time Lelouch, it seems like a real miracle happened."

Her statement was only meet with an deafening silence. Lelouch's body was totally numb when the realization hit him. There where now well designed plans or some unknown Geass that saved him, it simply was a miracle.

"Are you alright, Lelouch? You look like a statue all this time?"

"I'm alright, but it's a bit disturbing to know that I simply live because of something that I can't even hope to ever comprehend. I never really believed in all this mythology with God and everything. So you could say that I'm quite a bit shocked that I was saved by something I didn't really believe in. Well, it seems like everyone needs a bit of luck in his life."

"I wouldn't call it luck, but it seems you are really the Man of Miracles now."

They both couldn't stop the smiles that were forming on their faces. Both of them could now lead a peaceful life, without the burdens that they had to shoulder before. The only question now was: What would await them in this new life of them.

**Well, I hope you liked it. I just had to write a story like this, because the ending of CG didn't really satisfy me. I don't really know if I should leave it as a oneshot or if I should continue this, well just state your opinion and maybe it will change my ;) ( i decided to continue it )  
**

**Oh and if you start wondering if I am person that beliefs in god and so on...better don't ask...I'm not really religious.**

**I'm searching for a beta reader, if anyone is up for the task just PM me. **

**R&R**

**-Slayer**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the positiv reviews i got until now. ****And regarding a question from a reviewer if Lelouch was immortal, no he isn't, I thought I made it clear that C.C. ****sacrificed**** her immortality in order for Lelouch to be saved. Well, never mind :D**

**Have fun reading!**

**Reprieve**** of the Damned **

**Chapter 2**

There was a small crowd gathered at the outskirts of the Tokyo Settlement. They were standing on the grounds of the royal graveyard of Tokyo. Before them stood a normal looking tombstone; written on it was the name of a dear friend.

Lelouch Vi Britannia

Everyone present had known the person with the name engraved on the tombstone. To most of them he was a dear friend, a brother and one of them even loved him to some extend.

The small crowd kept its silence. Nobody wanted to be the first to break their silent mourning. People of all sorts and all classes were represented in this group. A group of students stood directly in front of the grave, one with blond, one with blue and one with green hair.

Beside the students was a group of middle aged people, they wore the uniform of the Black Knights, each of them one of the core members of the famous Order. On the other side of the students were Lelouch's loyal comrades who helped him rule Britannia, a man with a orange mask and green hair; a young girl with pink hair and two scientists.

And lastly, in front of the students were 2 persons. One of them was sitting in a wheelchair; she had light-brown hair. The other person was a young woman; she had red hair and wore the Ashford Uniform; around her neck she wore a key that is used for starting Knightmares.

No longer able to bear the silence, the red haired girl decided to be the first to give her words of grieve.

"Lelouch was a dear friend to me and maybe he was even something more. His actions before his death may have been cruel and evil, but I believe that he planned everything, even his death, just to bring everyone a better future."

Her eyes began to get wet, but she wouldn't allow herself to cry, she swore herself that she would live a life that would be worthy enough to give Lelouch's sacrifice a meaning.

"The only regret I have is that the time we spent together was so short; and that I wasn't able to hear his response to my feelings. But I am grateful to his sacrifice and I will make him proud.

Everyone, lets create a world that would make Lelouch happy"

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In a small town somewhere in the new and free Japan were sitting two figures eating their breakfast in a small restaurant. It was nothing fancy, just a normal restaurant that was used from the people in the town, but that didn't mean that their food wasn't delicious.

"This pizza is extra delicious; you should try it to Lelouch." The green haired woman that sat across her male counterpart was eating her pizza like it was the most sacred thing in the world. Her eyes always held this bright glowing when she was eating pizza.

"I already told you not to call me Lelouch in public. And how can you eat pizza at 9 in the morning?" The young man that sat across the pizza eating female seemed to be greatly irritated. He always knew that she liked pizza…but eating it first thing in the morning seemed a little bit gross to him. He didn't mind, of course, if she wanted to eat her pizza who was he to defy her.

"I eat it because it's delicious and don't tell me that it's inappropriate or something like that. You should know that I don't give a damn about things like that."

She fixed Lelouch with a look that made clear that she wouldn't tolerate any more arguments from him regarding her eating habits.

"OK, you don't have to look at me that way. There is something I want to talk to you about. I hope that you do know that we need a source of money. In the moment we still have some money but that will run out soon, so we need some kind of work. And there are our problems starting, we must find a job, but for a decent job we would need to settle down. There is the option to do some lower jobs for a while, but we will have to settle down eventually. So the question is: Where are we going to find a satisfying place to stay and where do we get the money for it?"

C.C. seemed to ponder about the subject for a bit before she spoke up with a voice that made the answer look like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"Weren't you the master of gambling back the in Tokyo? I heard quite the stories about your exploits."

"It's not that easy! You can't make a living out of gambling like that and for a good gambling hall we would have to visit bigger cities. And even if we would get the chance to make a really big profit, we would have to set all of our remaining money. Even if we win there is no guarantee that they will even pay the sum. They could just blackmail us as cheaters or get their henchmen that would steal all our money afterwards."

"You know Lelouch, you really are a pessimist. In my opinion we should try it, or do you suggest that we do physical hard work. We both know that we are not really stamina freaks, so we need to do something with your smarts."

"Well, in the prospects of doing hard labour I think I can agree with you. But we need a backup plan if we should fail."

"We could always work for a syndicate. I'm sure that they would pay someone like you good."

"First gambling and now crimes, do you have an idea that doesn't make me a criminal or dishonours me?!"

"Lelouch, you know as well as me that this isn't a game. This world is harsh and the money isn't just lying on the ground to be picked up. We should take this risks, get some money and when we have enough we will leave the country and settle down in a place that isn't so crowded with people that could recognize you."

Again her voice left no rooms for arguments; it was serious and held a certain degree of authority. It was most likely to be a remainder from her time at the order; when she still was the master of the infamous Geass institute.

Lelouch wasn't the conqueror of the whole world for nothing, but he still didn't like it to take risks. He always wanted to have every possibility planned out perfectly. Even if he didn't like the idea of gaining their money from gambling, he still couldn't say that C.C. didn't have a point. Gaining money wasn't easy, especially if it was as much as they needed to get out of country and settle down. C.C. was right; they needed to take this risk.

"Who am I to defy the almighty Witch? If you want to gamble all our money on my gambling skills, I will not stop you."

"Good to hear that you didn't lose your brain after you died, Demon."

They paid and left the restaurant, both of them mentally prepared for the tasks and problems that would follow their plan.

**Well, I hope you like it ;)**

**This I a rather short chapter but I wanted to show all of you that I will continue this fic.**

**I will try to update the story every week from now on so don't except a update before next Saturday or Sunday.**

**R&R**

**-Slayer **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all the reviews! Have fun reading the chapter!**

**Reprieve**** of the Damned **

**Chapter 3**

Chess, a game that is said to be a privilege only to the most talented and skilled strategist in the world, a game that is used from geniuses and prodigies to measure each others strength.

The game in itself was simple, each piece could only move the way it's supposed to, but the real difficulty in chess is to overwhelm the other player with a force that is as big as yours.

It is a game in which both sides try to gain the upper hand, the fronts are always changing rapidly and while one prepares his attack the other defends it beforehand and immediately goes into the offensive himself; a game in which the tides can change with the move of one piece, a game with an deadly dynamic, if its used by a master.

One of the people that could be considered "master" was no doubt Lelouch Vi Britannia.

His strategic mind was sharp and his plans seemed like a piece of art, he was the individual who conquered the whole world in 2 years and he started with nearly nothing besides his Geass.

Our supposed hero of this story was currently sitting in a rather illegal gambling hall that was located under a bar. Deceptive as he is, he of course saw right trough the barkeepers attempt to hide his little gambling hall. But being his usual considerate self Lelouch promised to tell nobody about the barkeepers little secret, naturally he had a little condition as well: he wanted to be allowed to play a bit with the other guests. The barkeeper was agreeing to his proposal immediately, not wanting to make the young person in front of him doing something rather disturbing to his business.

After his little quarrel with the barkeeper Lelouch went down to the basement and started to observe his opponents. They were mostly rich businessman or lower nobility, they were small fry, at least in Lelouch's case, but they would be enough for now; he didn't want to start something big, they wanted to lie low while they were still in Japan.

He currently was playing a game of chess against a noble of the town they were in. It wasn't a really big city, but it wasn't a village either. The noble he fought was a good player, but he still wasn't even near beating Lelouch. The man was rather short and he had slim build, his skin colour was a not healthy looking white; all of this indicated that this man was either sick or he was being home all day, considering he is a noble it was probably the latter.

Lelouch was pulled out of his musings when his opponent demanded his attention with a light cough. He seemed to look especially satisfied with his last turn. A small smirk made its way onto Lelouch's face, the foolish noble got right into his final trap that would end this game within minutes. Seeing the smirk on his opponents face confused the noble, he was sure that he finally turned the tables to his gain.

The hand of Lelouch was calm and steady while he moved the piece that would end this match and shatter his opponent's confidence. He sat the piece on it's destination and looked the noble in the eye. The noble understood the gesture immediately, realizing his fatal mistake and calculating the outcome of this match this fast was a proof of this man's skill, but it wasn't enough to beat Lelouch.

"Seems like I lost this time.. Could I at least get your name before I give you my part of our bet?"

The voice of the noble was polite and calm. It seemed like he wasn't a sore loser at all. Lelouch decided that he would be polite as well, after all the burdens were lifted of his shoulders he could return to being his honorary self.

"I am afraid that I can't tell you my first name, sir, since I would like to keep my identity mostly hidden, but I will still give you my last name, it's Lamperouge. You did play well, maybe we can play again some other time?"

He decided that he wouldn't use the name Lelouch anymore, but he was still unsure of what he should call himself instead of Lelouch; and he didn't want to wear a mask again, the last time he did wear a mask it developed into something devastating and he didn't want to experience something like that again.

The noble seemed to accept his reasons for not giving his first name; he nodded and gave Lelouch a bundle of money. After that he headed straight or the exit, he lost enough for today.

A sigh escaped Lelouch's lips. He already won 4 chess matches today and up until now nothing suspicious happened. Maybe his and C.C. plan would really work out. Thinking about C.C. made him realize something: Where was she?

Lelouch looked around; the basement wasn't really that big; there were 6 tables with several gambling tools on them. At the moment the place was a bit crowded, it was likely that Lelouch arrived here when it was prime time.

It wasn't new to him that C.C. sometimes suddenly disappeared, she always came back though, and if he asked where she was she would always retort back with a sharp comment that either degraded his person or totally embarrassed him.

Besides the tables that were located in the middle of the basement was a little area with couches and chairs. It was used for relaxing and talking, while he observed said area he noticed something: there was a person with long green hair in the crowd. He didn't know that many people with green long hair, especially in this basement. The person sitting in the relaxing area was no doubt C.C..

He looked around a bit more, searching for his next opponent, but it seemed like he scared the other players already off. Everyone in this basement knew that they would lose against him, so they didn't even approach him anymore. After reaching this conclusion he decided to go to the place C.C. was located at.

On his arrival C.C. looked up at him, her face clearly showing her discomfort with his arrival.

"I thought you wanted to gamble? What are you doing here?"

"It Seems like I scared the others off. There won't be anymore matches today."

C.C. and Lelouch locked eyes while they were talking; a silent argument between them. It was clear that C.C. understood the hidden meaning behind his words: Lelouch wanted her to leave with him, but she had no intention of doing so.

"I think I will stay a bit more, Lelouch. Why don't you go ahead to our hotel room?"

Lelouch was just about to open his mouth to ask her how much she to drink, when she handed him a pair of keys with a number on it. Lelouch just shot her a surprised look but her eyes just told him to go already.

Lelouch walked out of the basement in a fast pace. He was angered, what did the Witch think she was doing? He looked at the keys; they were keys from the hotel that was across the bar.

"Where did she even get these keys…?" Lelouch mumbled. He was too absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the man that stood before him.

"Your wife asked me to rent her a room, so she got them from me." He had a rough voice and when Lelouch looked up he could see that this man was quite muscular. But did he just say "wife"? What was the Witch doing down there? He would have to talk to her about it when she came back, it was one of the times he didn't understand her at all.

"Oh, that's good; I was just worried that she might have gotten them not legal or something like that. I am heading to room now, if my wife asks were I am can you tell that?"

"Yes, no problem Mr Lamperouge."

Lelouch schooled his face in a friendly face, while in the inside he was shocked that this man knew his name too. It seemed like his name spread like a wildfire. He nodded to the hotel manager and headed to his room.

The room they rented was decent enough to be comfortable in it. The only thing that bugged him out was that there was just one bed, it was a big bed but it still was only one. Not wanting to attract the Witch's wrath he decided to sleep on the couch that stood in the room too.

He stripped down to his boxers and got himself a blanket to sleep with. When he lay down on the couch he thought about the whole day, did he make a error today? After a little while sleep claimed Lelouch's consciousness.

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A few hours later the dark hotel room was illuminated with light again. A figure with long green hair entered the room, looking for her already asleep companion. She noticed that Lelouch wasn't lying in the bed, like any other normal person would do. She concluded that he possibly did it because he was ashamed of sleeping with her in one bed. But didn't he realize that she needed to do it in order to not raise suspicion. She did tell the others that they were a fresh married couple after all.

She decided to wake up Lelouch rather unpleasantly as a punishment for his stupidity. She pulled hard on the blanket Lelouch was using, it resulted in him falling from the couch and waking up. His eyes shot open in an instant and immediately fixed on the green haired witch.

"Finally awake, Lelouch?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and even Lelouch recognized that he must have done something to anger his green haired comrade.

"What's the meaning of this? I even slept on the couch so you could use the bed. And there was no need to wake me in such a manner. What did you do by these strange men in the gambling hall anyway?"

Lelouch wanted to rant on but C.C. decided to interfere beforehand to explain her reasoning first.

"Don't you think we need a fake identity and a little bit of a background? This people asked me non-stop about us and I had to make up something plausible that would cover you and your true identity. I told them that we are a freshly married couple that is travelling around a bit. I also told them that we are some lower nobility and that you don't want to state you first name in fear of being scolded by your parents if they found out."

Lelouch cooled down a bit. Her reasoning was plausible and he had to admit that it wasn't even that bad of a lie, it had it faults, but it would do for the moment. While Lelouch was pondering about possible weak points of their masquerades he didn't notice that C.C. was stripping down her clothes in front of him, until she was in her white undergarments again.

"You can ponder about your plans later, Lelouch, I want to sleep and I don't want to be woken up when you come in bed."

"Why should I wake you up? I am sleeping on the couch after all."

"Didn't I tell you that we have to act like a couple now? Come to bed now."

Lelouch decided that he didn't really have a choice and made his was over to C.C. who was already lying under the blanket. Another problem that Lelouch noticed was that there was just one blanket.

"I will get the second blanket, just wait here a moment."

"There is no need for that. We are acting like a couple, so what's wrong with sleeping under the same blanket? What would you do if someone comes in here tomorrow morning and is seeing us acting like we aren't a couple at all?"

And again Lelouch's logical part told him that she was right again. He told himself that there was nothing special about lying in the same bed as women, but he still couldn't help himself from blushing from this idea.

"Are you going to stand there all night?"

The sharp comment of C.C. brought him out of his stupor and he finally went to bed. The blanket was big enough for the both of them but C.C. decided that she wanted to be nearer to Lelouch than he was comfortable enough.

"What's wrong with you and cuddling up to me like that?!"

"We left Cheese kun at the order, so I need something new to cuddle."

Her voice was full of amusement and it was clear that she noticed Lelouch discomfort. But she still decided that she would mess with him a bit more.

"Don't you like it when I cuddle up with you like that?" Her voice had a seductive tone that was trained for nearly 500 years and despite the lack of light she could clearly see Lelouch's bright blush.

"S…stop that nonsense."

Lelouch wanted to say more but his voice refused his orders when he felt two arms that encircled him. They were soft and they reached around his stomach, pressing the owner of these arms against his back. When he felt the two soft mounds that were pressed against his back he couldn't stop to blush again.

"Your muscles are so stiff Lelouch, relax yourself a bit, you can't lead a happy life when you are always worrying so much. You should just enjoy that you have the privilege to sleep in the same bed as me tonight."

Lelouch's slightly relaxed his muscles, she was right…but that didn't help him from feeling so damn embarrassed about the whole situation, especially when she was still cuddling him.

"Good night, Lelouch, have sweet dreams of me…"

C.C. seemed to posses the unique ability to fall asleep in a span of a few minutes. He tried to get out of her hug but when he tried to move away she just held him closer, so there was no way he could get away without waking her; and waking her was generally a bad idea, he confirmed that on a few occasions. He decided to just try to sleep in this awkward position, it wasn't an easy task but he eventually succeeded in falling asleep.

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While Lelouch was troubled by C.C. there was a lone soul a few hundred kilometres away from them who was alone in her bed. Her short red hair was even visible with the dim light the moon gave off. She was lying on her back, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the past and a certain person that recently lost his life while trying to change the world.

Kallen believed that Lelouch tried to change the world for the better and sacrificed himself in the end. He was a hero from her point of view, but she still wanted him back, the sharp witted and charismatic leader of the black knights; and the student who had seemingly no interest in anything but still cared about anyone.

It was her dearest wish to be able to see him again and express her thanks towards him, for liberating Japan and giving her life a turn for the better.

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It was warm, and soft. That were the thoughts that run through Lelouch head when woke up. He was still a bit sleepy so he didn't think about the events of last night or the source of his comfortable pillow. Maybe he would regret it later but he didn't mind at all right now, it was too long ago that he slept this well.

He decided to doze for a few more minutes, just lying in his comfortable haven and relaxing his body and mind. But fate wasn't allowing him to do so.

"So you do like it after all…" Lelouch's ears heard the sound of a familiar voice, he understood the words but his mind was still to foggy to comprehend them. He was just about to let these trivial matters alone when he registered something: someone was stroking his head. Nobody had the right to degrade him by stroking his head! Lelouch's eyes snapped open, just to be greeted by two soft hills in white cloth. Slowly grasping the whole situation and looking up to see a smirking C.C., made him bolt up and jump off the bed; it was an acrobatic move that nobody thought Lelouch was capable of.

"Why are you making such a ruckus? You weren't all that jumpy when you were snuggling in my breasts tonight."

Lelouch's face heated up and he couldn't even argument back. His rational side told him that there was nothing to be ashamed of, they were just acting like a couple and there was nothing deeper going on between them. But his self that was still that of a young man was clearly aroused by the thought of sleeping together with C.C.; and these thoughts embarrassed him; he always took pride in being able to mask his emotions.

In contradiction to Lelouch, C.C. didn't seem to mind it at all. When she was honest to herself she liked it quite a bit too. She always wanted someone to love her and cuddle up with her like that, without having to use her Geass. Her current feelings for Lelouch weren't all that clear, she respects him as a man and as a leader, but loving him? Despite her uncaring attitude she always cared for Lelouch and wanted his attention from time to time, he was the only one who truly knew her after all. Even after considering all her current opinions of him she still couldn't answer the question if she loved him.

After a few moments Lelouch decided to break the silence that embraced the room while C.C. was thinking and Lelouch was busy with being embarrassed.

"Well…we should eat breakfast and then discuss our future plans."

"You sure know how to kill the mood, Lelouch, but your plan sounds alright to me."

C.C. went out of bed too and headed for the bathroom that was attached to their room. It was nothing fancy, just a normal bathroom with a bath tube and a shower.

"I am taking a shower, could you organize something for breakfast?"

"Sure, I will ask the manager after I dressed myself."

The bathroom door closed and Lelouch was finally able to breath deeply again. The sight of her in undergarments was something that he was accustomed to after she ran around in them in his private headquarters all the time. But after the little incident today he couldn't help it to be a bit nervous. He would ponder about things like that later; his stomach was demanding attention right now.

He dressed himself in his casual Jeans and a black T-shirt with his trademark vest above it. After finishing dressing up he headed to exit, the manger would surely be at the counter; it was already 10 am after all.

The way down to the bottom of the hotel was rather short, considering that their room was located on the second floor. In the entrance hall Lelouch noticed that there already were some customers who left the hotel or were just checking in. Despite the busy situation the manager noticed Lelouch immediately and waved him over.

"Ah, Mr Lamperouge, you seem to be up early today." The voice of the manager was energetic and cheerful; as a manager of a hotel it was needed to greet any costumer like that.

"Good morning, I have to admit that sleep claimed me well tonight."

"That's good to hear. I have a message from the barkeeper for you. He wants you to come over after you have finished your business in the Hotel.

"Ok, that should be possible, but I have to ask you a question first: Where can I get a decent breakfast?"

"You just have to go down the street a bit, there is a really nice café with a breakfast buffet there."

"Ok, thanks."

With the problem of breakfast solved Lelouch made his way back to the room. C.C. would surely have finished her bath.

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C.C. and Lelouch were sitting in the café described by the hotel manager. Both of them were eating in a comfortable silence, savouring the peaceful morning. But they both knew that they had to discuss business. They didn't want to end up getting thrown in jail or worse.

Lelouch decided that he would take the initiative.

"Well, what did you find out yesterday, when you were chatting with the other players."

C.C. looked up, her eyes locking with Lelouch's. Gone was the playfulness in them, she was serious now.

"You certainly did attract attention yesterday. Most of the other players were amazed by the skill you showed despite your young age. You were the headliner yesterday."

"So much attention isn't really a good thing in our case, but there is no way to pretend that. When we really want to go trough with our plans we will unavoidable be known among players. These kinds of rumours spread fast."

"We should stay here a bit longer and then go to the next town. There is no doubt that we attracted the really big fishes after yesterdays show. After we got enough money out of them we will move on."

"Sounds like a plan to me. I am going to talk to the barkeeper after we finished breakfast. He sent me a message that he wanted to discuss something, probably just trying to get some information about me."

"Be careful, Lelouch, don't give him too much information or we are in deep trouble."

"Do you think that I would be this careless?"

"I just wanted to be sure that you don't do something stupid."

"Don't worry, I am the Demon after all, and even if he should know something troubling there is still a certain Witch that would curse him."

Both of them were smiling after the last sentence. After the important meeting with the barkeeper they would meet again in the hotel and wait until the unofficial gambling hall opened up again.

Lelouch made his way towards the bar. He wondered what the barkeeper was trying to pull by asking him to meet him…

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**Well, I hope you like it ;)**

**And if you are asking yourself if I play chess myself, yes I do. **

**R&R**

**-Slayer**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the reviews! **

**And I am still searching for a beta-reader, if anyone wants to volunteer just PM me!**

**Now on with the story!**

**Reprieve**** of the Damned **

**Chapter 4**

The streets of the small town were crowded; the citizens were pursuing their usual business, not caring about the person that walked besides them. It was a normal sight in modern settlements, there were just too many people there to know them all, or care for; so the people tend to just ignore each other.

One of the individuals that were walking down these crowded streets was very well aware of these circumstances, and he was overjoyed by it. In such a big crowd there were many people that could recognize him, but they either didn't care to ask him about it, or they wrote it of as coincidence. This fact lightened Lelouch's mood considerably. The only problem was that if someone who knew his face good enough to be totally sure that he had to be Lelouch, than they wouldn't let him go that easily. And when they found him he wasn't expecting to get much kindness from them, he was their supposed to be dead point of hatred, it would only cause problems if it became known that he was still alive, all the victims of his evil doing would scream bloody murder.

Lelouch walked on, obvious to the confused looks that were thrown at him, but to his luck nobody did more than just look at him. His destination was drawing nearer, so he doubted that anything would happen no. He was in a town that lay in the outskirts of Japan after all; there wouldn't be anyone here that he knew personally at some point.

He stopped in front of the bar, it wasn't open at the moment; it was still early and drinking at such a time was considered inappropriate. The barkeeper told him that he could always come in through the back entrance if he needed something. His behaviour raised Lelouch's suspicion, but he was sure that he would master everything the barkeeper would throw at him.

His body was just about to move when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you…Lelouch?"

His eyes widened, just for a moment before he controlled his emotions and put on a friendly expression on his face. He still felt the hand that was lying on his shoulder, running wouldn't be possible and the fact that he would just raise more suspicion by running wasn't helping him at all. He slowly turned around, prepared to use all means to guard his identity.

Before him stood a girl that seemed to be around his age, she had short black hair and purple eyes. She was a little bit shorter than Lelouch. Her body was slim and she had a body that many would describe as beautiful. Her dress was a white school uniform with red and blue streaks in it. On her face was a cocky smirk and her whole body radiated confidence.

"I am sorry, but you must have mistaken me for someone else." He was polite, but his voice had an underlying tone of authority. He didn't want to start an argument in the middle of the street.

"There is no way that I would mistake you with my idol. You are Lelouch Vi Britannia, and don't try to convince me otherwise."

His face changed into an annoyed expression, this girl was persistent. He had to convince her that he wasn't Lelouch, but the first thing he would need to take of was the location, talking with the girl about his identity in a street filled with people would be insane.

He decided that he would take her with him to the bar; the barkeeper told him that he could come when he was in trouble.

"I am not going to talk about this here, you can come with me into the bar, or you can just go home and forget all this nonsense you are talking about me."

"Are you afraid that the people here will overhear us? Got something to hide?"

"No, but don't you think it's more comfortable than standing here?"

He had to be polite and reasonable, he wasn't all that convinced that he could fool her; if he analyzed her expression and body posture right than she isn't someone who gives up that easily.

"Ok, but you pay for the drinks." She had a big smile on her face, it seemed like she considered this some kind of date. He would show her how wrong she was.

She latched onto his arm and began dragging him into the alley that led to back entrance of the bar. All the way she was squeezing his arm and wearing that big smile of hers. Lelouch wasn't very amused by this. He always hated all that romantic stuff that the girls liked so much. He was more far more reserved with such things.

When they finally arrived Lelouch knocked on the door that led into the bar. After some time the door was opened by the barkeeper himself. His face changed warped into a smile immediately after he saw Lelouch. He was just about to say something when he noticed that he wasn't alone, his face somehow became a bit more sober.

"Welcome, Mr Lamperouge… and company. I believe I asked you to come alone?"

"There were some..circumstances… that led to this rather awkward situation. This girl was very persistent on finding out my identity. So I brought her here with me to talk in private."

"Great…now she knows this bar to associate me with you."

The little revelation was nothing that Lelouch wasn't already aware of; he would tell the girl a lie that would hopefully satisfy her curiosity, but the first thing he had to do was to determine her goals. Maybe he could sue her to keep silent about their little secret.

"Well, I want to talk to her a bit, after that we can get to business."

The barkeeper only nodded, he wasn't satisfied with this situation at all. Why did he bring the girl to his bar?! He dealt with information and money all his life and he knew that it was dangerous to let more people than needed to know about his little business.

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Lelouch led the girl to one of the corners in the bar where they sat down to solve their little predicament.

"What's your name?"

Lelouch voice was calm and he again wore his mask of friendliness. The girl seemed to be startled for a moment, there were many questions that she was expecting from him, but she didn't consider that he would simply ask her name first.

"Umm… I am Miya."

"Well, Miya, why do you think that I am Lelouch in the first place? You can't really believe that I have to be your so called idol just by looking at my face."

"Of course I can! I have many photos of him in my room and you look exactly like him!"

Lelouch could only shake his head; this girl's reasoning was something that he couldn't solve with logic. The only way that he could make her believe he wasn't Lelouch was using his Geass, but he swore to don't use it anymore. Now that he didn't use it anymore he realized how damn useful it was.

"What would you want from someone like Lelouch anyway? He was a Demon after all."

"I don't think he was a Demon, he was someone who tried to unite the world and stop all the wars, he was a bit ruthless, but I think that he did it for the greater good. And regarding your question what I would do with him…hehe…I would try to date him of course!"

Lelouch felt like he could slap his head onto the table, hard. He just happened to run into a crazy fan-girl that had a major crush at him. Maybe he could use these facts to his benefit.

"Ok, I think I can trust you, I am indeed Lelouch Vi Britannia, but as you can surely imagine I don't want anyone to know of this. If you can keep your mouth shut about this I will go a date with you, ok?"

The girl just nodded like she was in a dream like state. Under closer inspection Lelouch was sure that he could stars in her eyes. He had to work out the lies for his leaving later, but he sure that she wouldn't disobey him for the moment. If he played his cards right he would come out of this predicament harmless.

"I am leaving town at the end of the week, so I can only date you once. I have really important business to attend to, so I don't have much time. We will meet here at 6 o'clock tomorrow, ok Miya?"

Again she just nodded, he was sure that his plan would work. When she would talk about her date with him her friends would write it off as badly lied or a joke. Nobody would believe it when a girl with a crush on him would talk about her meeting with said crush.

He stood up and led her to the exit, he wanted to get rid of her for tomorrow; he had to attend another important meeting with the barkeeper after all.

"Until tomorrow, Miya, and don't tell anyone about it."

"Bye, Lulu, don't worry I wont tell anyone, I swear!"

He watched her retreating form until she vanished in the crowd. A sigh escaped his lips, woman were such troublesome individuals. He was called genius, but he still couldn't understand how a woman's mind worked. And what is up with all the female's calling him "Lulu"? He totally hated that name, it always sounded like he was a stuffed animal or a little kid.

_I am Lelouch Vi Britannia, god damn it! Treat me with respect and don't give me funny names!_

While his mind was raging he still had a neutral expression on his face. After a few minutes he was done with his little rant and he started to make his way to the barkeeper's room. He was sure that tomorrow would be a terrible day for him…

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The room the barkeeper had prepared was a small room; it had enough space for a little table and two chairs. The barkeeper was already seated when Lelouch entered the room. On the table stood a teapot and two cups, one of the cups was already in used from the barkeeper.

"Did you get rid of her?" The barkeeper was annoyed; he didn't like Lelouch's little adventure at all.

"I am sorry, but there was no way I could have gotten away from her without talking with her in private. Now that the liability is out of the way, I would like to discuss the reason why you called me here."

"Straight to the point, I like people like you. The reason why I called you here is simple, I got curious about your real identity, so I asked a few of my friends if they knew a noble family called Lamperouge…"

The barkeeper made a small pause in his explanation to observe Lelouch; he was an expert at observing people. But despite his skill in reading people he wasn't able to even see a glimpse of panic in Lelouch's face.

"And he found out something very interesting. There is no noble family called Lamperouge, the only record of someone called Lamperouge was a student in Tokyo. The name of the student was Lelouch and he vanished right before Lelouch Vi Britannia appeared. Don't you think that's kind of suspicious?"

"Yes, it sure seems suspicious, but I wouldn't jump to conclusions like that. When Lelouch Vi Britannia appeared Japan was already in a state of war and a great deal of Tokyo was destroyed by Fleia. It is not that unlikely that he died in that explosion." Lelouch kept his cool and responded with a calm voice.

"Well, you have a point, but the fact that Lamperouge and the Emperor looked exactly the same is no coincidence. I have a few friends who work in the Tokyo Registration Bureau and they had quite a bit of interesting facts about Mr. Lamperouge. I am sure that you know all of these facts, Mr Lamperouge, or should I call you "Your Majesty"?"

The barkeeper smirked; there was no way that Lelouch could talk his way out of this. He had facts that allowed no doubt. The person in front of him was the deceased Emperor.

To his surprise Lelouch did something that he didn't expect him to do; he began to laugh, loud and long, like he finally snapped. When he was finished with laughing Lelouch looked directly at the barkeeper, his eyes cold and calculating.

"It seems like I was a bit to naïve to think that giving out my old name wouldn't cause any harm. I won't deny it; I am Lelouch Vi Britannia, as much as I am Lelouch Lamprouge. But I want to make one thing sure, Lelouch Vi Britannia died. I have no intention of fighting or conquering anymore. My hands are already stained with blood; I don't need anymore of it. The only question that remains now is: What do you want from me?

You didn't dig all of these facts up just to brag with them."

Lelouch kept his cold and piercing gaze, and the barkeeper finally understood that he was indeed playing a dangerous game right now. The man in front of him was rumoured to be a true demon, so he would have to be careful while dealing with him. One mistake could cause his death.

"You don't have to look at me that way; I have no intention of harming you or spilling your secret to the world. I only want to use your abilities. You are a true genius when it comes to chess, right?"

Lelouch only nodded, his gaze was softening a bit, but it was still serious. He wouldn't lower his guard in front of this person; if he was skilled enough to blow his cover as easy as that then he wasn't a small fish. Lelouch anticipated that he would deal with a small-time criminal here, but it looked like he was part of something much bigger, maybe this man could be his passport to a large sum of money.

"Well, we will hold a big tournament in a week. There is a really big prize to win, but it is only reserved for people who got an invitation, and it is not really official, do you understand what I mean?"

The barkeeper had a cheesy grin on his face. Lelouch could already see the outcome of this conversation. The barkeeper wanted him to participate and if he should win he wanted his fair share of the money. The deal was dangerous; in such big underground tournaments were organizations that don't know mercy. They would try to win with all means possible, even if it meant to murder the next opponent; it was tournament were everything was allowed. Lelouch was aware of these dangers, but he wasn't called genius for nothing. He would take on all of these amateurs and wipe the floor with them.

"I hope that you have everything prepared?"

"Of course, everything is ready. My organization has already assembled some skilled bodyguards and the invitation is prepared too. I knew that you wouldn't decline a deal like this."

Lelouch was satisfied with the preparations for now; he would work out details later. The only thing he wanted to do know was going back to the Hotel and resting. It was a truly screwed up afternoon. His identity was uncovered two times; he would have to be a lot more careful in the future.

"I will come back in two days; I would like to have information about the location and the other participants until then."

"I will get to it immediately; your success is my success after all."

Lelouch nodded to the barkeeper one last time before he headed to the exit. His whole body felt heavy, he didn't know when the last time was that he felt that exhausted.

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The Hotel was across the bar, but it still felt as if he had walked a mile when Lelouch finally arrived at his room. He opened the door and went inside. He was too exhausted to even remember that he wasn't living alone in the room. His memory was replenished instantly when he saw a green haired women lying on the bed and eating pizza, like she always did.

He was just about to make a comment when she made one herself.

"I already ordered something to eat, what did take you so long anyway?"

"I had very serious business to attend, unlike other people in this room…"

"Are you trying to imply something?"

"Of course not, I mean what's wrong with lying on the bed in your underwear and eating pizza all day?"

Yes, Lelouch was royally pissed at the moment. Was it too much of a dream to come home after a hard day of work and receive some kind words, or at least a bit of appreciation for his hard work. He had enough of this crap for today; he sat himself on the chair in front of the table and began to wallow in self-pity.

Despite her teasing of Lelouch C.C. greatly cared for the Young man in front of her. If he was that depressed after their usual argument, then he must have had a really hard day. So she decided to do him some good, with giving him something that was most precious to her.

"You can have a bit of my pizza if you want."

Her voice was gentle and there was no ill will in it, but Lelouch decided to decline her offer in a rather unfriendly way, at least from C.C. point of view.

"How can you eat something like that all day? We had pizza for dinner three days straight! I can't believe how you can eat something like that all day."

Nobody could tell her that she didn't try to be nice towards him. She really wanted to be nice, but after he insulted her pizza there was no chance in hell that she would do anything even remotely nice to him today.

"Fine, if you don't want anything then I will eat it alone. You can go and get your own food."

"I would, if I wouldn't feel like I ran a Marathon today. I just want to stay here and o nothing for the rest of my life…."

He dropped his head on the table and did…nothing. His whole body felt heavy and his mind was exhausted from all the mind games he had to play today. There was so much running trough his head at the moment. If the barkeeper was able to uncover his identity, who could get these information too? All they had to know was that he called himself Lamperouge yesterday at the basement and they could eventually find out the truth. His mind was in turmoil right now, so much that he didn't notice the approaching form of C.C.

C.C. was watching the brooding from of Lelouch and she decided that she would forget their little pizza argument for now; she didn't want him to be brooding all day, so she decided to be nice to him, for now.

Lelouch still knew nothing of the plans that C.C. formed in her mind. He was still calculating all the problems that he maybe had caused yesterday in the basement. Even when he thought in a very optimistic way he would always come to the same conclusion, he had a big bunch of problems coming at him.

He nearly jumped out of his chair when he felt a pair of soft hands on his shoulders. He tried to look around but the hands were holding him firm in position.

"Don't expect me to do this everyday, so I would advise you to just relax and enjoy this. I was told on several occasions that I am very good at this."

"And what exactly is this skill you are so good at??"

"Massage of course, and now shut up and relax."

Lelouch was about to respond again but a rather painful pinch on his shoulder made the message clear: He was supposed to shut up and relax.

He was a bit surprised that C.C. was supposed to be good at massage, but when she started he could feel the magical work of her fingers in his shoulders. Comfortable warmth started to spread throughout his whole body and he began to feel really relaxed. With his new relaxing body he started to feel really sleepy too, so sleepy that he slowly began to fall asleep.

C.C. was massaging Lelouch's Shoulders like it was a everyday occurrence. When one was immortal then they had much time to learn something like this. At least she could feel how Lelouch reacted to her massage. He was silent and obedient right now, a sight that she didn't see very often. If she would tell him that right now he would surely be angry again, but C.C. had her special massage hold on him to keep him in check.

"You know, Lelouch; I like it much more when you are as submissive as you are now."

She waited for an answer, but it didn't come. When she was about to ask him why he didn't answer she noticed something. There was the feint sound of snoring, and the source of it was right before her.

C.C. felt kind of cheated, she was doing him that great favour and what did he do to thank her? He just fell asleep and he didn't even thank her for it. Despite being a little bit aggravated at the moment she decided to just let him sleep. She would get her revenge tomorrow.

She let go of his shoulders and put his head gently on the table. When she could see his peaceful expression she just couldn't help herself but to get a pillow and lay it under his head.

She came to the conclusion that he could be very cute when wasn't talking.

With that thought she went to bed, alone this time, but she was still happy, because she could tease Lelouch tomorrow about falling asleep while she massaged him.

And with that said she turned off the light and let sleep claim her.

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**Well I hope you like it :D**

**Regarding some questions in some reviews if Kallen would meet Lelouch in this story…well it would spoil the story too much if I would tell you :P**

**R&R**

**-Slayer**


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